While the stagnation in overall achievement masks a 3 to 5 percent gain in the achievement of African American 17-year-olds, the scores for whites at the end of high school are virtually unchanged.

Those who point to higher scores in the early grades as cause for celebration are missing the point. What parents care about is that their children are well prepared for higher education and future careers at the end of their secondary education. The fact that scores have risen somewhat in the early grades means little since those gains evaporate for the vast majority of students by the time they graduate.

Even if the parents "win," and the court orders their public school district to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on English instruction, it won't do any good. A 1985 federal court order compelled the state of Missouri to spend an additional $2 billion over 12 years to desegregate Kansas City schools and improve the achievement of African American students. Neither goal was achieved, and even the presiding judge eventually admitted his order was a failure. Extra spending and court pressure do not improve public school performance, because public schools don't have to show improvement to get the money and because courts can't dismiss ineffective administrators or teachers.

The real solution is to empower parents to leave the schools that are failing them and move their children to more effective ones.